The Harris County Houston Authority took "two major
steps" Wednesday toward ensuring that the cost of a new
downtown ballpark will not exceed $250M, according to John
Williams of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. The authority
"unanimously approved" a contract for "up to" $17.85M with
K.C-based architects HOK and others to design the
retractable roof stadium. The authority also unanimously
approved a "tentative" deal with Houston-based Brown & Root
to build the park for "no more than" $229.5M, with the firm
and the authority to "share any savings equally." Brown &
Root will get a "guaranteed" $7.5M to manage construction of
the facility and, "in return, will guarantee any cost
overruns." A final contract with Brown & Root is "likely to
be approved" by December 15 (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 12/4).

The city of Dallas has agreed to "kick in an extra"
$20M for "road and sewer projects" around the proposed new
arena for the Mavericks and Stars, prompting complaints that
"subsidies are mushrooming," according to Todd Gillman of
the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. A 44-page master agreement, which
calls for a 20,500-seat facility with 2,500 club seats and
120 luxury boxes, was presented to the City Council. It
includes a provision that $10M of the facility's $230M price
tag go back to the team owners as "fees for managing and
financing the deal." Gillman writes that "critics" say the
"growing costs, payments to team owners and lack of
guaranteed development around the arena" make the deal
"unacceptable." But Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk said, "Our costs
on the arena are $125 million, and they're not going to go a
penny higher" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 12/4). In Ft. Worth,
Mede Nix reports that Mavs Owner Ross Perot Jr.'s Hillwood
Development Corp. will be paid $8.4M as "developer" of the
project, while Stars Owner Tom Hicks' firm Hicks Muse Tate &
Furst will be paid $1.58M as a "financial fee" (Mede Nix,
FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 12/4).

On the eve of groundbreaking for their new Pac Bell
Ballpark, the MLB Giants announced a minority hiring and job
program yesterday which includes a proposal to pay
"apprenticeship costs for disadvantaged young people who go
into construction trades," according to Ramon McLeod of the
S.F. CHRONICLE. Giants VP Larry Baer also said that the
team is setting aside 20% of the project work for minority-
owned businesses and 10% for female-owned businesses. The
ballpark project is expected to create "more than" 2,500
construction jobs. Under the minority hiring plan, the club
will pay for the "apprenticeship costs of 100 poor people
who will enter job training programs" aimed at getting them
jobs on the ballpark project (S.F. CHRONICLE, 12/4).

The day after the MCI Center officially opened,
officials met "to see what needed adjusting," according to
Montgomery & Heath of the WASHINGTON POST. Traffic inside
the building was at the "top of the list," after "choke
points" developed at various spots in the arena, and some
fans reached "places they weren't supposed to, such as the
carpeted club level. As for outside traffic, "[h]eavy use"
of Metro made "getting to and from the arena easy." The
10,200 people who reportedly took the Metro was a "near
bull's-eye" on city Metro and Washington Sports Chair Abe
Pollin's target figure (WASHINGTON POST, 12/4). Pollin
appeared on NBC's "Today" with Willard Scott, with Scott
giving Pollin a kiss on the cheek for his birthday, which
was yesterday. Scott, on the MCI Center: "It is not just
beautiful, it's a tourist attraction" (NBC, 12/4).